40:13-14 One of the remaining Judean princes, Johanan (cf. v. 8), asked Gedaliah if he was aware that the king of Ammon had encouraged another one of the Judean princes, Ishmael (cf. v. 8), to assassinate him. Baalis, the Ammonite king, shared Zedekiah's antagonism for Babylon (cf. 27:1-11), so he did not want a Babylonian puppet governing Judah. Furthermore, a politically unstable condition in Judah would cause Nebuchadnezzar to concentrate his attention and troops there rather than on Ammon. Gedaliah did not believe that any such plot existed.
"Gedaliah had apparently forgotten that Ishmael was of the house of David [as well as a former chief official of Zedekiah's, 41:1] and thus did not appreciate being passed by in Gedaliah's favor. Or Ishmael may have considered Gedaliah a traitor for agreeing to govern under the Babylonians. Baalis [the king of Ammon] may have felt that eliminating Gedaliah would make it easier to carry out his own plans to conquer Judah. The king of Ammon may have feared that Gedaliah might again make Judah a formidable nation and a potential threat to him. Also, Baalis (v. 14), an ally of Zedekiah and an enemy of the Babylonians (cf. 27:3), was angry that the family of Ahikam opposed the league referred to in chapter 27."507
40:15 Johanan offered to assassinate Ishmael secretly so Gedaliah would not die and harm would not come to the remnant community.
40:16 Gedaliah refused to permit Johanan to carry out his plan because he thought he was misjudging Ishmael. Gedaliah was too trusting and naive even though he was a capable ruler and apparently a man of faith. His commitment to his own people seems to have blinded him to the political intrigues that were swirling around him (cf. John 2:24-25). He would have been wise to seek the Lord's will through Jeremiah and then to follow it.
41:1-2 In September-October, not long after the fall of Jerusalem, Ishmael and 10 other men came to Mizpah and ate a meal with Gedaliah.508During the meal they rose up and slew Nebuchadnezzar's appointee with the sword.509This was not only an act of treason but a violation of ancient Near Eastern hospitality customs.
41:3 The assassins also murdered the other Jews and the Chaldean soldiers who were there.
"Everything about him [Ishmael] disgraced the name of David his forebear [sic], who had resisted every impulse to wade through slaughter to a throne' and had awaited God's time and his people's will [1 Sam. 26:10; 2 Sam. 2:1, 4; 5:1]. This was no David but a Jehu--and a Jehu without the excuse of a crusade. Almost as outrageous as his treachery was his folly, in supposing that a regime that was devised in deception, imposed by violence, backed by ill-wishers (Ammon, 40:14; 41:10c) and in breach of God's decree (27:6), could have any hope of survival. It may seem far-fetched to draw parallels between this monster and ourselves; but here, although writ large and in blood, is the way in which even the well-meaning may be tempted to get things done, especially in corporate projects. That is, by guile rather than openness; by pressure rather than patience and prayer; in a word, by carnal weapons rather than spiritual, and towards ends of one's own choosing."510
